Clothes hanger



May 15, 1951 R. cLAUsEN 2,552,842

CLOTHES HANGER Filed April 5, 1950 @Obert Clausen l SQA/enter 1% Cibox/neg Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHES HANGER Robert Clausen, Elizabeth, N. J.

Application April 5, 1950, Serial No. 154,153

3 Claims. (Cl. 223-88) This invention deals with a hanger for clothes and, more particularly, to a hanger having movable, lockable spreaders of unique design, sliding on a toothed cross-piece for holding up trousers, skirts, and the like.

Many clothes hangers have been disclosed in the prior art. Some of them disclose a ratchet arrangement on a cross-piece for keeping apart spreading elements on which may be mounted trousers, skirts, etc. These devices have been found to be complicated and unadaptable to conventional bow-type hangers which the public is accustomed to use. Also, they require springs and intricate machining, thus making them highly impractical for commercial use.

The present invention involves a simple spreading mechanism operating on a toggle Iprinciple and requiring no springs or ratchets for satisfactory operation. The invention may be more readily understood by reference to the drawing in which Figure 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the invention. A cross-sectional end View taken along II-II of Figure 1 is presented in Figure 2 while Figure 3 is .a front view, partly in cross section, of one of the slidable, lockable spreading devices which engage the cross-piece of the hanger taken along III-III of Figure 2. Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the various figures.

Referring again to the drawing, numerals I and 2 represent the bent upper bow portions Iof the hanger, preferably made of flat or round metal wire, at the juncture of which is attached hook 3 which is riveted thereto by rivet 4. 'I'he lower portion of hook 3 may be provided with upwardly directed hook 5 on which some clothes may be hung.

The lower portions 9 of the bow portions are riveted by means of rivets 8 to the ends of crosspiece 6 which is preferably a flat strip of metal having a serrated lower edge l on which are engaged sliding members I 0. These sliding members comprise a sleeve I0 surrounding the upper and side portions of cross-piece 6. The lower portions of sleeve I 0 extend from each side as members IB, and then terminate downwardly as members II which act as spreaders and hold up trousers, skirts vand the like.

Soldered or 'welded or otherwise fastened to the underside of extending members I6 is plate I'I which terminates with a downwardly and then upwardly directed projection I4, the tip of which acts .as a pawl in the serrations I to engage same and prevent movement of sliding member I0, together with the complete Slide assembly. Downwardly directed portionV I 8 is provided to keep releasing lever I3 on sleeve I IJ and prevent its sliding oif. Lever I3 is fitted over sleeve I0 with sufficient clearance to enable movement to the right or left to a slight degree.

Sleeve I0 is also provided with longitudinal clearance so as to enable tilting thereof when lever I3 is moved to the right, which action disengages projection I4 from serrations 1, thereby unlocking sleeve I0 and allowing it to slide to the right. Serrations I are rounded oil so that they do not catch the clothing and cause possible tearing thereof. The sleeve on the right is similar to the one on the left, but the parts are oppositely disposed so as to enable locking and disengaging in a direction opposite to that of the left hand sleeve IU. The outermost edges of spreading members II are preferably indented so as to enable better gripping of the trousers, skirt, or the like.

In operation, the upper portion of the skirt or cuff portions of the trousers are slipped over spreading members II and members I I are then spread apart from each other with the thumbs until the skirt or cuis are tightly stretched, and upon release of the thumbs, the skirt or trousers will remain on the hanger without any tendency to slip off. The coat may then be placed on bow portions I and 2 and the hanger hung up by means of hook 3.

If the trousers or skirts are to be removed from the hangers, levers I3 are pushed towards each other with the thumbs, which action causes a tilting of sleeves I0 by a sort of toggle action, thereby disengaging projection I4 from serrations 1, and causing the sleeves to slide toward each other, thereby releasing the skirt or trousers.

It is apparent, from the foregoing description, that the sleeve assembly is a simple mechanism employing no springs or other flexing member which is apt to break or which requires considerable assembly time during manufacture.

I claim:

1. In a clothes hanger having .an upper bow portion carrying a centrally disposed hook and a cross-piece connecting the ends of the bow, the improvement comprising serrations on the lower edge of said cross-piece, two oppositely disposed sleeve assemblies sliding on said cross-piece, each assembly comprising a sleeve disposed around said cross-piece and loosely enough longitudinally to enable tilting one end thereof in the vertical plane, at least one downwardly directed projection from the base of said sleeve to act as engaging and holding members for clothes to be held,

af laterally emerging projection from the end of said sleeve base directed upwardly to engage said serrations, and a lever projecting from the top of said sleeve to enable tilting of said sleeve to disengage said latter projection.

2. A clothes hanger according to claim 1 in which the projection from the base of the sleeve is directed downwardly and upwardly and the lever has alower portion surrounding the sleeve 4 loosely longitudinally and disposed behind the downwardly projecting portion of said projection. 3. A clothes hanger according to claim 1 in which the sleeve has two parallel downwardly 6 directed projections.

ROBERT CLAUSEN.

No references cited. 

